The Music Man at HCT

Last night I went to Hale Theatre's production of The Music Man and I had a huge smile on my face during the entire show because it is just so delightful! There is something so comforting about the old favorites and I eagerly anticipated every familiar song: "Ya Got Trouble, " "Goodnight My Someone," "Seventy-Six Trombones," "Marian, the Librarian," "The Wells Fargo Wagon," "Gary, Indiana," and "'Till There Was You." I tried very hard not to sing along but the adorable older gentleman sitting next to me told me he didn't mind if I did! Hale does a fantastic job of staging this show to make it interesting and fresh. I especially loved the choreography in "Seventy-Six Trombones," "Marian, the Librarian," and "Shipoopi."  This new stage may be bigger and more technologically advanced than the old one in West Valley but it still impresses me what the choreographers can do with such a large cast in a relatively small space. The sets are absolutely amazing! The train in "Rock Island," the multi-level library with wrought iron spiral staircases in "Marian, the Librarian," and the foot bridge in "'Till There Was You" were my favorites. Addison Welch is incredibly charismatic as Professor Harold Hill and Rachel Woodward Hansen has a beautiful voice as Marian Paroo. There are a lot of funny characters in this show and I thought they were very well cast especially Janae Gibbs Cottam as Mrs. Paroo, Brandon Suisse as Mayor Shinn ("Not one poop out of you madame!"),  and Sharon Lynn Kennison as Eulalie MacKecknie Shinn ("One Grecian Urn.").  Ryder Mason and Christine Bernards are adorable as Winthrop and Amaryllis, respectively.  Finally, the barbershop quartet (Luke Shepherd, Juston Lebaron, Jason Baldwin, and Ricky Parkinson) is fantastic! If you are a fan of the classic musicals, then this will definitely put a smile on your face like it did me.  It runs at the Mountain America Performing Arts Centre until June 9 (tickets may be purchased here).